


The Art of Raising Trees

by kaibagirl



Series: FE Fates RP - Leo [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Brynhildr - Freeform, Freedom, Garon is mean, Magic, Oneshot, Sad, Shadow - Freeform, Timeskip, burden, but not actually in the fic, inner thoughts, my tags are strange aren't they, not being good enough, only Leo in this fic, other siblings mentioned - Freeform, raising trees, slight angst, tactical board game, tactics - Freeform, tree - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24930622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaibagirl/pseuds/kaibagirl
Summary: Leo has been given a task to master Brynhildr, the ancient, powerful tome. Will he be able to control it, or will he fail for the first time in his life?(This is my audition for Leo.)
Series: FE Fates RP - Leo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026877
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	The Art of Raising Trees

Little Leo was sitting alone in the courtyard, a toy sword laying next to him.

Xander said he’d spend the day with him, they agreed to meet in the place Leo was sitting. Alas, Xander had princely duties to do, whisked away by work once again, despite such a young age.

This always happened. But Leo understood. His siblings didn’t have time to spare. And that was fine because he could play by himself. It was fine.

He stood up, grabbing his sword, and went inside. There was a new collection of tomes in the library, perhaps he could start going through those.

He recently learned what the word amiable meant. The definition was, “having or displaying a friendly and pleasant manner.”

Perhaps his newborn sister would grow to be amiable. God knew they needed cheer and warmth, especially in Nohr’s dark climate.

He stepped into his spotlessly clean room and put the toy sword in its place. He then headed for the library.

Dark climate… Perhaps some sort of magic could make more food grow. Perhaps a  _ combination _ of magic would work.

His mother pushed him into magic at a very young age. Surely he could improve to the point of growing enough food for all of Nohr?

Leo nodded absently. He would do it. Then maybe his siblings would have more time with him. Maybe his father would praise him.

It was a goal to work towards, and he would get there.

***

_ (Nearly a decade later… _ )

Leo received Brynhildr. It was an honor to receive it. But Father didn't prepare a ceremony for him, it was just the Nohrian royals, minus Corrin, and their retainers.

To be fair, Leo doesn’t enjoy any kind of party, but it still stung. Xander had a huge ceremony with every noble in the area when  _ he _ was presented with Siegfried.

It didn’t matter anyway. The important thing was to start exploring the limits of Brynhildr. He didn’t need praise for simply receiving a tome- an  _ ancient _ , powerful tome, but it was a tome nonetheless. He needed to figure out how to start using it to help Nohr grow and prosper.

He spent a week reading and rereading the tome, devouring its ancient words. It was more difficult to understand than all the other books and tomes he’d come across, but that was to be expected.

He went outside, flipping Brynhildr open.

He concentrated on it’s words, written beautifully, aged by time, and imagined a little sprout of a tree, young, light green leaves growing. He opened his eyes. Nothing was there.

Well, you couldn’t get  _ everything _ right the first time you tried it.

He stood there for an hour, using every method he could think of to make it grow.

  
_ Just  _ listen _ to me, do as I command, _ he thought.

“Goddammit!” he cursed out loud. It just didn’t work. Why didn’t it work, what was he doing wrong?

He sat on the cobblestone of the castle, gripping his head, pulling at his hair. How could he make it work?

***

A few weeks later, Leo came across a sentence in a book.

"The Tree of Life represents growth as a tree starts out as a small, delicate sapling and grows over a long time into a giant, strong tree. The tree grows up and outwards, representing how a person grows stronger and increases their knowledge and experiences throughout their lifetime," he read.

It reminded him of Brynhildr. He eyed the tome, which he sat next to him. Perhaps he should try working it again? Father did assign him the task of figuring it out.

He went out into the courtyard, flipping open Brynhildr to a certain page and imagining a little sapling growing. He commanded it to grow.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, begging it to work.

A sick looking sapling arose from the ground. Leo laughed, delighted. However, that moment of lost focus caused the little plant to crumble to the ground, dead.

Leo sighed, frustrated. Why wouldn't it work for him? Was he not worthy? No good enough to wield the weapon? Father would have his head.

He wished he was free, free of these  _ duties _ he had as a prince, free of father's rage, free of… the burden. The burden of his siblings' shadows. How could he compare to Xander, the perfect, strong crown prince of Nohr? Or Camilla, the bewitching beauty, kind but terrifying. And what of Elise, Nohr's little light, their joy. Their favorite being Corrin, of course. Kind, sweet, smart Corrin. Eager to please and quick to learn. Able in swordsmanship, magic, and healing. There was nothing Corrin couldn't do.

What did Leo have to compare with any of that? He had brains, praised for being the best tactician in all of Nohr, best mage. The sharp tongued, sorcerous prince. But it wasn't  _ enough. _ He wanted to be free of that shadow.

_ Free _ . Perhaps Brynhildr needed freedom in order to work.

He tried again, letting the little sprout grow how it wanted. Leo focused only on giving it the strength to grow.

Leo opened his eyes.

There was a tree, slightly taller than him.

Leo let out a cry of happiness. The tome  _ worked for him! _

***

( _ A few years later...) _

Leo woke up, and saw that he was resting his head on his desk. He fell asleep from studying too long last night. He sat up slowly, trying not to pain his aching back.

_ God, he was definitely going to need coffee. _

He needed to find a way to solve this problem. But it seemed  _ impossible _ .

The enemy was surrounding them, there was no way out.

_ But maybe if he moved Effie to the left, she could open a path for Subaki to fly through and strike down their commander. _

No, it would kill Effie. He mustn't kill anyone, they had no one to spare.

He gripped his head in frustration. What kind of tactician  _ was _ he? He couldn’t live up to his brother in swordsmanship and now he couldn't best him at tactics?

He shook his head, as if trying to physically remove the thoughts from his mind.

It would do no good to think like that- it would distract him from the problem at hand. The important one. Because it didn’t matter if he went through life alone, the strong don’t need help.

He sighed loudly.

He should be proud. He got himself to where he was today.

He prided himself on his ability to find a role for everyone. If Elise moved four spaces to the right, she could use her staff to heal Effie before she has a chance of dying.

That would, however, leave her open to attacks…. But not if Leo himself came to support her.

That’s it. They took down the commander.

But Leo didn’t have time to celebrate solving a tactical game, he had a meeting to go to.

Before he stepped out, he remembered to check his collar, lest he be teased again by his siblings.

Leo put on a neutral face, nodding politely at people he passed by.

  
He  _ couldn't wait _ for the war to end.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed <3


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